Vancouver Olympics CEO John Furlong warned NHL and International Ice Hockey Federation officials that if they don't come up with a plan to bring NHL players to the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, they won't be forgiven.

The U.S. Olympic team definitely has a new rival, one you might not guess: our easygoing neighbors to the north, the ones who, when it comes to sports, always have seemed content to be best at playing hockey and watching hockey and little else.